I wasn't too sure if I could bring in personal feelings from this game into the blog... It took a few moments, but I believe I was able to draw the conclusion that I took this more as entertainment than a tough task. That seems to be a standard with most situations that may be challenging or uncomfortable. I believe this may have come about after senior year in high school, maybe more so as I started college. The dorm floor I was assigned into was filled with Juniors and Seniors (yeah I can't quite explain how that happened or why there were still in dorms either). These guys were all heavy drinkers/pot smokers/partiers... and I had not even had my first beer yet. Heck, I had barely turned 17. The most illegal thing I had done was ... well, doughnuts in the school parking lot (which was being viewed by the Dean. He didn't appreciate me asking his rating of the show).
I just made situations presented over the next two (mandatory) years in the dorm entertainment. I wasn't too excited by the prospects of being stoned, so having a room full of these guys hanging out and avoiding joining the crew while still living with them somehow evolved into entertainment (avoid private engineering colleges at all costs, forget the rankings). I believe this tactic became engraved in my way of thinking, and it helped greatly during my senior year. I was working with one of the Big Three car companies as a manager to the Union workers. There was a tough situation nearly every day, and it became helpful to think of them as problems that were rather entertaining to solve. I can't guarantee that it portrayed positively to each person that I was working with, but I happened to go my entire duration of employment there without getting written up or having a strike on my hands (a record in that plant). Well, I can say that my group in this exercise didn’t start a riot on me either.. that’s a good thing, right?
I must say that I'm not a very emotional person either. That may be a problem, but we can leave that for another blog posting...
Identifying the strategies you use is a great first step. You know that you stay a little outside of the events around you, aren't fully invested. Now, as a leader, you need to think about how this looks and feels to your followers. Do you like leaders who are viewing you from the outside, or who are right there next to you and are fully invested in you and your success?
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